Website Detail Page

edited by
Robert Teese
published by
the Rochester Institute of Technology

This short video shows the impulsive force of a tennis ball hitting a hard surface. When viewed in stepped motion, it can also illustrate the transfer of energy between tennis ball and floor as the ball flattens out. It may be run as a simple video in grades 6-10, and also used for computer analysis in introductory physics classrooms. The video is 12 frames in length and may be viewed in step motion or real-time. Position and time data may be measured and collected by using video-analysis software.

SEE RELATED ITEMS for a link to free Tracker video analysis software. Tracker allows students to not only analyze the video in slow-motion, but also to overlay the videos with dynamical models to see how well the model matches the real world.

This item is part of a larger collection of short physics videos developed by the Rochester Institute of Technology Live Photo Physics Project.

Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.

This is the web site to obtain a free download of Tracker Video Analysis software, a tool to analyze video clips frame-by-frame and also combine the videos with computer-generated dynamical models. Full instructions for use in the classroom are included.